Poor long-range shooting and a significant disparity at the free-throw line told the story.
The 47-18 Celtics wrapped up their six-game homestand by battling the 53-12 Thunder. Boston had won five straight coming into this game and won 15 of their last 18. Meanwhile, Oklahoma City had won 18 of their last 21 coming into this game. The Celtics were once again playing without their star center, Kristaps Porzingis. He has now missed the previous seven games with an illness.
The Thunder jumped out to an early 9-0 lead, forcing Boston to call timeout. The Celtics were able to regroup and play more competitive basketball throughout the first half. It was a very back-and-forth game, with the Thunder leading Boston 63-60 at the break. Tatum led the way for Boston with 18 points and five assists.
Oklahoma City looked great to start the second half and even went on an 11-0 run, forcing Boston to adjust. Boston had been very sloppy with the basketball and was atrocious from three-point land. Jaylen Brown couldn’t find his rhythm, as he had only six points through three quarters.
Boston started to turn the tide midway through the third quarter and went on an 18-6 run. Instead of forcing threes, they were being aggressive and attacking the paint. The defense tightened up, and they battled for offensive rebounds. Jayson Tatum had 11 points in the quarter, and Boston tied the game at 88 heading into the final quarter.
Boston would still have the game tied at 95 with about eight minutes remaining, but it would all go downhill. The number of fouls called on Boston really hurt their momentum and caused them to play less energized. They started taking bad threes again and even went on a four-minute scoring drought. Jaylen Brown would end up fouling out with 3:30 left in the game and had only totaled 10 points on lousy efficiency.
The Celtics lost this game by a final score of 118-112. Jayson Tatum finished with 33 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. Boston shot just 5-27 from deep in the second half. The main story of this game was the free-throw shooting. The Thunder shot 35 free throws, while Boston only took 12. The Thunder officially completed the season series sweep against the Celtics.
Boston will look to regroup on Friday as it takes on the Heat in Miami on NBA TV.
